Yellowknife Farmers Market Blog

Your feedback is invaluable to the planning, promotion, and funding of the Yellowknife Farmers Market. It's a short questionnaire that should take no more than 5 min to complete. If you prefer to participate in person, Lois Little will be walking around at the Market on September 1st asking folks to complete the short questionnaire. Just look for the woman with the YK Farmers Market apron and clip board.

Follow this link to the survey. Your feedback is appreciated before September 8.

It's been nearly a week since the Kohlrabi Kraze. We figure we'd give you a week before inundating you with yet another kohlrabi post. Last week you could not go anywhere without hearing about kohlrabi. We are sorry (not sorry) with overloading you with kohlrabi news. Can you blame us? We had 500lbs to sell in two hours! Our fear of carting away so many kohlrabies had us in a panic.

But we never should have doubted you, Yellowknife. Of course you would be krazy enough to line up for a weird, spaceship like vegetable you have never tried. Of course you would enthusiastically buy 500lbs of it in under two hours. For this, we are forever grateful. For saving us from having to haul hundreds of pounds of kohlrabi away in defeat.

Line ups for the Kohlrabi Kraze

Sold out in less than two hours!

More Kohlrabi Ideas

If you have not eaten your kohlrabi, rest assured that they will stay good in the fridge for at least another two weeks or so. If you're still wondering what to do kohlrabi, reading this post should help. Still need more ideas? How about trying out one of these recipes?

Combine remaining ingredients in pot and bring to a boil. Once brine is boiling vigorously, remove from heat and carefully pour brine over the kohlrabi.

Place lids on jars and let sit to cool. Once jars are cool to touch, refrigerate the pickles & serve with salads, meats or cheeses.

Lessons from #kohlrabikraze

If it's anything we have learned, it's to never doubt Yellowknifers' ability to back and support something weird. Kohlrabi, we've also learned, have friends far and wide. Politicians, babies, reality show pilots, filmmakers -- you are all friends of kohlrabi. Here's a round up of some of our favourite memories with our kohlrabi ambassadors, Karl and Kristina.

The kohlrabi journey begins!

500lbs of kohlrabi are on its way to YELLOWKNIFE!

There are more kohlrabi than originally anticipated. Close to 500lbs of kohlrabi have been harvested and on their way to Yellowknife! Is Yellowknife ready for that many kohlrabis? We think so! But what to do with this weird looking vegetable that looks like a spaceship with tentacles? How in the world do you eat it? What does it taste like?

Kohlrabi is a part of the brassica family, which is also home to cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and brussel sprout. It comes in both purple and green varieties. It’s a very versatile vegetable that can be eaten raw or cooked and both the bulbs and leaves are edible. The texture of the bulb is akin to a crisp apple and tastes like a cross between cabbage, broccoli stems and radishes.

How to prepare kohlrabi

Separate the leaves from the bulb. You can save the leaves and use it like you would use kale – in soups and stews, stir-fries or even prepare them like you would kale chips. The bulb has a thick outer layer, similar to broccoli stem. Peel the bulb with a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler.

Peel kohlrabi bulb with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler

Come buy kohlrabi!

We have 2.5 hrs at the August 18th Farmers Market to sell 500 kohlrabis! Let’s do this Yellowknife! Small ones will sell for $1, medium for $2 and large for $3. Kohlrabi stores really well in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. So stock up! Bulk orders can be purchased for $4/kg by sending us an email.

Kohlrabi ideas

Salads and slaw: grate up the bulb and add it to salads or use it in coleslaw.Veggie platter: slice or cut up the bulb and add to a veggie platter with some dip.Roasted: cut up the bulb into cubes or fries and roast in the oven.Soups and stews: pieces of the bulb makes delicious additions to soups and stews.Stir-fries: cut the bulb into match sticks and add to stir-friesChips: dehydrate the leaves for chips, just like you would kale chips.Smoothies: add the leaves into a green smoothie.

August 18th will be the debut of the delicious kohlrabi to the Farmers Market! The Yellowknife Farmers Market is partnering with Hay River’s Indian Summer Market Gardens to bring hundreds of this slightly odd looking, but delicious vegetable to our Tuesday market. Lucky us – the kohlrabi loves our northern summers and Hay River has a bumper crop of them this year!

The kohlrabi will be sold for $1, $2 or $3 depending on size. You can also pre-order large quantities at $4/kilo and pick up your order at next Tuesday’s market. Just send an email by Monday, August 17th.

Purple and green kohlrabi in all different Sizes

Don’t know what to do with this funny looking with vegetable? We can help! Leading up to the Kohlrabi Kraze we will be posting lots recipes, but first, let’s get to know the kohlrabi…

What is Kohlrabi?

Kohlrabi looks like a giant turnip and tastes like a cross between cabbage and broccoli. It can be eaten raw or cooked. It’s one of the healthiest vegetables around because it provides so many nutrients.

Here are a few nutrition bits you should know.

Notable Nutrients...

Kohlrabi is high in dietary fiber (which most of us do not get enough of) 1 cup raw kohlrabi has 5 grams of dietary fiber, so it’s a fantastic choice for good digestion (by contrast, 1 cup corn (also considered a high fiber vegetable) provides 4 grams (and 1 medium sized carrot provides 1.7 grams).

Low in calories - only 36 calories (by comparison, 1 cup of cooked rice is 204 calories); 83% of kohlrabi’s calories come from carbohydrates; 15% from protein and the rest of the calories comes from fats.

Of all the vitamins in kohlrabi, vitamin C is the most abundant: 1 cup provided 84 mg of vitamin C (or 140% of the amount of Vitamin C you need each day). Again by comparison, 1 up of orange slices contains 160% of the Vitamin C you need a day).

Kohlrabi also contains B vitamins (B6, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid and folate) – B vitamins play a role in healthy metabolism as well as healthy skin and hair.

Minerals found in kohlrabi include potassium (14% of our daily needs (helps us metabolize protein and sugars); copper and manganese. Magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iron and selenium are in there too but in small amounts.

Kohlrabi is a member of the brassica vegetable family – these vegetables have been studied for their protective and preventative effects for some types of cancers.